The Truth in Lies
by Lady Dragon
Summary: Whoever said that the truth will set you free was a liar of incomparable talent. Oneshot. Post-series. Written for the Avatar 500 lj comm.


Oneshot. Written for the Avatar TLA 500 community on livejournal, prompt is "defeat". Also posted on my LJ, AO3, and DevART. See profile for links.

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_The wayfarer,_  
_Perceiving the pathway to truth,_  
_Was struck with astonishment._  
_It was thickly grown with weeds._  
_"Ha," he said,_  
_"I see that none has passed here_  
_In a long time."_  
_Later he saw that each weed_  
_Was a singular knife._  
_"Well," he mumbled at last,_  
_"Doubtless there are other roads."_

-Stephen Crane, "The Wayfarer"

**The Truth in Lies**

Despite what the majority of the world would like to believe, the citizens of the Fire Nation didn't all wake up one day and decide to take over the world. The reality was that the vast majority of citizens never even understood the true extent of the war as it made no real impact on their daily lives. In the first critical years of the war only Fire Lord Sozin, his military leaders, and a select few trusted nobles knew what was really going on, _over there_. And while the soldiers certainly realized things weren't as they had been told, it wasn't exactly their place to question their superiors. The rest of the nation were fed pretty lies of a Southern Water Tribe Armada attempting to take control of the waters surrounding the Fire Nation, savage Earth Kingdom denizens forever embroiled in petty land disputes, and arrogant Air Nation monks who sought to place themselves above all. Fire Nation propaganda started the war and carefully filtered news, edited history, and half-truths kept it fueled for a century.

The profits didn't hurt either.

As Fire Lord, one of his first acts had been a complete overhaul of his nation's schools in order to separate the truth from lies. As a result, many 'victorious' battles were retold and a great number of his nation's so-called heroes were painted in a very different light. And with every old record he found, more ugly and horrid truths were uncovered. In this manner, the old court records before him were no different. They just revealed the identity of one of his nation's most lauded heroes and blackest villains.

_Fire Lord Sozin...spent his early years secretly preparing for it, but he was as patient as he was clever._

The Betrayer was a legendary hero amongst his nation's history, and although his name had never been given in the history texts, his deeds were well recorded. According to history, The Betrayer was a firebender of prodigious talent and devoted follower of Fire Lord Sozin. He hailed from a powerful family in the nobility and his infiltration of the Air Nation was instrumental in the defeat of their armies by Sozin's troops.

He'd been prepared for the man to be nothing more than a story designed to inspire patriotism in the people.

_Somehow the new Avatar eluded me. I know he's hiding out there somewhere. The Fire Nation's greatest threat, the last airbender._

The Betrayer had been friends with a young Air Nomad, and by proxy, had gained the trust of several monks at the boy's temple. He'd been saddened to learn that not only had The Betrayer given up the secret location of the Air Nomads who escaped the initial purge, he had also discovered the Avatar's identity and assisted in the hunt for him.

What he wasn't prepared for was The Betrayer's other name and title.

_Before the war started, I used to always visit my friend..._

Kuzon of Shu Jing, friend of Avatar Aang.

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In a post-war world there are a lot of things that must be set to rights, and I imagine that there would be a great many truths best left unsaid.

I probably made a lot of people upset with this, especially since Kuzon always seems to be portrayed as a good guy who tried to help the Airbenders or a good guy who was trapped in and destroyed by a crazy nation. But this is a concept I've been bouncing around in my head for a while and it begged to be written. (pleasedon'tkillme!) Think about it...Zuko was a good guy and he was blinded by his country's propaganda for a time. Same with Jeong Jeong, Iroh, Piandao, Chey, Ming - you get the picture. Sozin had a country that was prospering and at peace and somehow convinced them that invading the rest of the world was a good thing. He also knew, from experience, that the Avatar did not begin training until sixteen years of age and he attacked when the Avatar would have been twelve and untrained as an Avatar.

So...in my mind, the possibility of Kuzon making wrong choices for the good of his country at his Fire Lord's behest was pretty high. And Sozin being smart enough to get someone on the inside to relay information about the Air Nomads to him after he spent years preparing for this war? Given.


End file.
